A compressed gas switch is described in principle, for example, in German Patent No. 40 10 007 regarding the contact arrangement and the operation of the axially displaceable contact piece. A heating chamber arranged coaxially with the contact arrangement is described in German Patent No. 41 03 119. Regardless of the particular design of these compressed gas switches, they have the disadvantage that the hot gas makes it difficult to establish the isolating distance during switch-off, so that the time at which the isolating distance is re-established cannot be determined with sufficient accuracy. In addition, controlled switching at zero current is almost impossible, since the inherent delay of the compressed gas power switch is included in the switching sequence (each compressed gas power switch has a different inherent delay determined by the respective manufacturing tolerances, age, environmental conditions, and different masses). European Patent No. 0 334 181 and European Patent No. 0 400 523 describe that a second isolating distance may be connected in series to the first isolating distance of a compressed gas power switch, but this involves a disproportionately large, and therefore high-cost, drive, since the extinguishing gas may only enter the inside containing the secondary contact of the second isolating distance from the outside. This, however, means not only that gas must be made available from the outside, but also that the compressed gas power switch requires a large space.